Forms: 3–8 trusse, (4–6 trosse, trus, 5 truse, Sc. troiss), 9 (in sense 5) tross, 7– truss. β. Sc. 5 turss, 5–7 turs, 7 turse, tirrs. [a. F. trousse, OF. also torse, trusse, tourse (12–15th c. in Godef.), Prov. trossa, Sp. troxa, Pg. trouxa; according to Scheler and Hatz.-Darm. vbl. sb. from trousser to TRUSS.]
1. A collection of things bound together, or packed in a receptacle; a bundle, pack; † in quot. 1577–87 collect. baggage. Now chiefly technical.
12[?]. Ancr. R., 168 (MS. C.). Noble men & gentile … ne uareð nout itrussed mid trusses [Cott. Nero trusseaus], ne mid purses.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 194. The paien rod upon an asse, And of his catell more and lasse With him a riche trusse he ladde.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 4004. Undir his heed no pilowe was, Bat in the stede a trusse of gras.
1472. Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879), I. 162. A turs of fresche ate fodder.
1562. Bulleyn, Bulwark, Dial. Soarnes & Chir., 46. Knede it with a little Beane meale, and roule theim vp into a trosse.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron. (1807), II. 342. They spoiled the carriage and trusse of the said barons.
1622. Malynes, Anc. Law-Merch., 199. Commodities … packt vp in Bundels, Trusses, Cases, Coffers or Packes.
1712. Tickell, Spect., No. 410, ¶ 2. She … devoured a Trusse of Sallet.
fig. 1531. Elyot, Gov., I. xiv. Lerned men … whiche … haue … perused the great fardelles and trusses of the moste barbarouse autours, stuffed with innumerable gloses.
1878. Villari, Machiavelli (1898), I. 3. The Commune was merely a truss of minor associations, badly bound together.
b. spec. A bundle of hay or straw; in technical use, of a definite weight, varying at different times and places: see below.
The truss of hay is usually a compact mass of hay, approximately cubical, cut from the stack, and tied; now generally, in England, of old hay, 56 lbs.; of new hay, 60 lbs.; a truss of straw, 36 lbs.
1483. in Acta Audit. (1839), 123*/2. Thre hundreth turss of hay.
1561. in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1587, 401/1. 20 laid of cane peitis, ane turs of stray.
1608–9. Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 180. Towe trusses of haye, ijs. Ibid. (1609), A trusse of strawe, vd.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 73/1. A Truss of Hay, as much as can be tied together in an Hay Rope, for a Man to carry on his shoulder.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., A truss of hay is to contain fifty-six pounds,… thirty-six trusses make a load. In June and August the truss is to weigh sixty pounds.
1846. J. Baxter’s Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 63. Result.—On the acre sown with nitrate, 7 sacks 1 bushel of wheat, 50 trusses of straw. On the acre without manure, 6 sacks, 40 trusses of straw.
1862. Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, x. A waggon laden with trusses of hay.
1866. Rogers, Agric. & Prices, I. ii. 16. The hay was, as at present, cut into trusses.
† c. Applied to a person, in contempt or ridicule. Obs. rare.
1585. Lupton, Thous. Notable Th. (1675), 270. A Truss, a Rawbon, a Skeleton, a Doudy slut,… blinded by besotting lust, be admires all.
2. Naut. A tackle by which the center of the yard was hauled back and secured to the mast; in mod. use extended to an iron fitting, consisting of a ring encircling the mast, with a goose-neck by which the yard is secured. Cf. truss-parrel, -rope, -tackle in 8. (The earliest use.)
1296. Acc. Exch. K. R., 5/20 m. 5. In vna Corda, et vnum par de Trusses Inuentis in domo Iohannis de Pytingtone.
1336–7. Acc. Exch. K. R., 19/31 m. 4 (P.R.O.). In diuersis cordis de Russhewale cum schiuis et Trussis pro vno rakke inde faciendo. Ibid., m. 5. In iiijor poleyns emptis ad eandem [galeam] pro trusses … xvj. d.
1420. in For. Acc. 3 Hen. VI., F/2 dorso, j. hauser pro Prialle ropes j. hauser pro trusses.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., 71. Other some vering the trusses.
a. 1625. Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301), Trusses are Roapes which are made faste to the Parrell of the yardes and are vsed to two vses, one to bind fast the yarde to the Mast when shee rowles either a hull or at an Anchor; the other is to hale downe the Yards in a Storme, or Gust.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Trusses … belong to the Main-yard, Fore-yard and Missen.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxvi. Running trusses on the yards. Ibid. (1841), Seaman’s Man., iv. 22. Lower yards are rigged now with iron trusses and quarter-blocks.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., s.v., The trusses or parrels of the lower yards serve to bind them to their masts, and are bowsed taut when the yards are trimmed, in order to arrest motion and friction. But the introduction of an iron goose-neck, centering and securing the yard well free of the mast, very much supersedes the use of trusses.
† 3. a. A close-fitting body-garment or jacket formerly worn by men and women; cf. trussing-bolster, trussing-coat, s.v. TRUSSING vbl. sb. 3. Obs.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 1377/2. Mayster Ridley … sayd to his brother: it wer best for me to go in my trusse styll. No (quod his brother), it wyll put you to more payne: and the trusse wil dooe a poore manne good.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomenclator, 164/2. Strophium, a womans breast trusse or stomacher.
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., XXVI. lviii. She still did weare A slender trusse beneath her womans weed.
1612. Drayton, Poly-olb., xii. 269. Puts off his Palmer’s weede vnto his trusse, which bore The staines of ancient Armes.
† b. pl. Close-fitting breeches or drawers, covering the buttocks and tops of the thighs: = TROUSE2.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse, Wks. (Grosart), II. 31. We … of the vesture of saluation make some of vs Babies and Apes coates, others straight trusses and Diuells breeches.
1598. Florio, Cotigie, leather hosen, or trusses such as our elders were woont to weare.
1631. Shirley, Schoole Complement, I. i. C iij. Gasp. Canst be close? Gor. As … a paire of Trusses to an Irish mans buttockes.
4. A surgical appliance serving for support in cases of rupture, etc., now usually consisting of a pad with a belt or spring to produce equable pressure on the part.
1543. Traheron, Vigo’s Chirurg. (1586), 118. Let the spunge be bounde upon a trusse, made by a good artificer.
1552. Huloet, Trusse for a wrestler, or diseased body, strigil.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Vhe Trousseure,… a trusse as such as be broken do vse.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XXVII. vii. II. 277. If wormewood be worne in a trusse to the bottone of the belly, it allayeth the swelling in the share.
1696. Lond. Gaz., No. 3227/4. He … wears a Truss, being bursten.
1876. Gross, Dis. Bladder, 99. Compression of the perineum with a spring truss.
5. Gardening. A compact cluster or head of flowers growing upon one stalk.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 70/2. These Auricula’s … bear a great Truss of many flowers.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., v. (1860), 145. I have recently observed, in some garden pelargoniums, that the central flower of the truss often loses the patches of darker colour in the two upper petals.
1885. H. O. Forbes, Nat. Wand. E. Archip., 108. A shrubby species of Cassia bearing large trosses of bright golden flowers.
6. Building, etc. A framework of timber or iron, or both, so constructed as to form a firm support for a superincumbent weight, as that of a roof or bridge.
1654. in E. B. Jupp, Carpenters’ Co. (1887), 316. When any Chimney … shalbe sett vpon a trusse of timber That it be sett two foote 6 inches from the vpside of the trusse to the vpside of the floore.
1751. Labelye, Westm. Br., 87. The Wooden Trusses, or rather Arches under its Roof.
1840. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 125/1. These bridges are built on piers far apart and formed of a truss … of continuous trellis work.
b. Arch. A projection from the face of a wall, often serving to support a cornice, etc.; a kind of large corbel or modillion.
1519. Horman, Vulg., 241. Make me a trusse (podium, suggestum, vel pulpitum) standynge out vpon gargellys that I may se about.
1812. Rickman, Archit. (1862), 11. A truss is a modillion enlarged, and placed flat against a wall, often used to support the cornice of doors and windows. Ibid. A Console is an ornament like a truss carved on a key-stone.
c. Ship-building. (a) See quot. 1823. (b) See quot. c. 1860; also called truss-piece (see 8).
1823. Crabb, Technol. Dict., Truss is also the name of short pieces of carved work fitted under the taffrail, in the same manner as the terms.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 70. The trusses are diagonal shores crossing each other, and resting against the abutments.
1874. Thearle, Naval Archit., 34. Besides these plate riders, a complementary set of diagonal wood internal frames, termed trusses, are fitted between the thick strakes or clamps under the orlop deck beams and the binding strake over the floor heads.
† 7. Name of some game. Cf. TRUSS-A-FAIL, Obs. rare–1.
1627. W. Hawkins, Apollo Shroving, V. iv. The waues … play at trusse and at leapfrogge on one anothers backe.
8. attrib. and Comb. Of, pertaining to or constituting a truss, in sense 2, as truss-line, -pendant, -pulley, -rope, -tackle (see quots.); in sense 6, as truss center, frame, framing, girder, post, rib; furnished with or supported by a truss or trusses, as truss-bridge, -roof; also truss-maker; truss-bound, -galled adjs.; truss-band Naut., one of two iron bands by which an iron truss (sense 2) is fastened to the yard; truss-beam, a beam forming part of a truss; also a beam, or iron frame used as a beam, strengthened with a tie-rod or struts, so as to form a truss; † truss-bed, ? = trussing bed (see TRUSSING vbl. sb. 3); truss-block, a block between a beam and a tie-rod in a truss, serving to keep them apart (Cent. Dict., 1891); truss-bolt, a bolt or iron rod forming part of a truss (see quot.); truss-hoop, (a) Naut. (see quot. 1867); (b) Coopering = trussing-hoop (see TRUSSING vbl. sb. 3); truss-parrel Naut., a parrel encircling a mast, forming part of or connected with a truss (sense 2); truss-partition (see quots.); truss-piece (see quot.); truss-plank, ‘in a railway passenger-car, a wide piece of timber fastened on the inside of the car to the posts of the frame directly above the sills’ (Cent. Dict.); truss-rod, a tie-rod forming part of a truss; truss-work, work consisting of trusses.
1909. Cent. Dict. Suppl. (lettering of figure s.v. Truss), a, truss; b, b, *truss-bands; c, truss-parrel.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Truss-beam, an iron frame serving as a beam, girder, or summer; a wooden beam or frame with a tie-rod to strengthen it against deflection.
1541. Test. Ebor. (Surtees), VI. 142. Towe *trusbeddes of the best.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 563. Either with one king-bolt in the middle, or with a *truss-bolt at one-third of the length from each end.
1778. [W. Marshall], Minutes Agric., 16 Jan., an. 1776. To hinder the rats from harbouring in *truss-bound straw, and gnawing the bands.
1840. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 125/2. Wood for small *truss bridges.
1735. J. Price, Stone Br. Thames, 7. A fram’d *Truss Center.
1874. Thearle, Naval Archit., 34. These *truss frames are the same thickness as the binding strakes, and are placed at an angle of 45 degrees in an opposite direction to the plate riders.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 91. A large timber,… which is supported at its ends in the side walls, and has a *truss-framing applied to the back of it, like the framing of a roof.
1679. Lond. Gaz., No. 1410/4. A Cart Gelding *truss-gall’d on the sides.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 569. When the flooring is to be very stiff and firm, it is necessary to introduce *truss girders.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Truss-hoops, [or] clasp-hoops for masts or spars … are open iron hoops, so made that their ends, being let into each other, may be well fastened by means of iron wedges or forelock keys.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Truss-hoop, one placed around a barrel to strain the staves into position.
1407. Acc. Exch. K. R., 44/11 (1) m, 5 dorso, ij Bowelynes, ij Stetynges debiles, ij *Truslynes debiles.
1776. Court & City Reg., 167/1. *Truss-maker, Alexander Reid.
1824. Watt, Bibl. Brit., Sheldrake, Timothy … Truss-maker to the East India Company, and the Westminster Hospital.
1411. Acc. Exch. K. R., 44/17 m. 2 (P.R.O.). Vn Bowespret, vn Rakke, vn *trusp[ar]aille … vn Canone de Ferre.
1485. Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 39. Maine perells … j, Truss perells … j.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 595. *Truss-partition, one with a truss, generally consisting of a quadrangular frame, two braces, and two queen-posts, with a straining piece between the queen-posts, opposite the top of the braces.
1856. S. C. Brees, Gloss. Terms, Truss-partition, a partition in which trussing is employed as well as the regular quartering.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Truss-pendant, that part of a rope-truss into which the truss-tackle blocks are seized. *Truss-pieces, the fillings in between the frame compartments of the riders, in diagonal trussing.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 231. *Truss-post, any of the posts of a trussed roof.
1357. in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III., m. 34/2. j. wynding-rope, j. ȝerderope, ij. *trusspoliues.
1417. in For. Acc. 8 Hen. V., G/1. j. slynge, iiij Trusse Polleys, j henge pulley.
1735. J. Price, Stone Br. Thames, 7. 7 Pair of these *Truss Ribs.
1873. J. Richards, Wood-Working Factories, 8. The *truss rods are generally in the way of the belts,… in nearly all cases it is both better and cheaper to provide strength in the girders without trussing them.
1842–76. Gwilt, Encycl. Archit., Gloss., *Truss Roof, a roof formed of a tiebeam, principal rafters, king post or queen post, and other necessary timbers to carry the purlins and common rafters, etc.
1336. Exch. Acc., 19/31 m. 4 (P.R.O.). Et in xx. petris cordi de canabo … pro duobus *Trusseropes inde faciendis.
1417. in For. Acc. 8 Hen. V., G/1. De … ij. Prialle ropes debilibus j. Trusse rope.
1569. in Richmond Wills (Surtees), 226. Two pare of trusse roips.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Truss-tackle, a gun-tackle purchase applied to the ends of the truss-pendants, to bowse them taut home to the mast.
1884. Harper’s Mag., Nov., 826/2. A triple-arch roof supported by iron *truss-work.
